


Let Her Go

by lalauhale (amyraudenfelds)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2013-10-15
Packaged: 2017-12-29 11:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1004975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyraudenfelds/pseuds/lalauhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura Hale comes back into town and meets with intriguing Lydia Martin. What seems to be just a quick drop by to take care of "business" escalates quickly to a romance. Lydia has never loved anyone before, and neither has Laura. They have to work their way around it and glue their broken selves back, together. </p><p>The timeline here is pretty much cannon and it takes place before Derek arrives in Beacon Hills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Her Go

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title inspired by Passenger's song "Let Her Go". I've been toying around with this since Thursday and wouldn't rest until I finished it. And I apologize in advance for any feels you have whilst reading this. Shoot me a message on tumblr if you want, I'm aerosmut.tumblr.com. Enjoy the read, lovelies!

Lydia is in a terrible mood when she meets Laura Hale for the first time. And Lydia has no idea of who Laura is. She had a terrible day and she hated everyone around her. Like always, Jackson had been a douche to her, but she grew accustomed to it. She knew she deserved better, she knew she didn’t want to get stuck with Jackson all her life, being the high school sweethearts. That hadn’t work out for her father and mother, and she didn’t look forward to repeat their mistakes. No, Lydia was smart. The smartest girl in her class. And now, Lydia wondered just how stupid she could be.  


She had two coffees and felt frantic, she felt awake, and she had walked in a diner just by the side of the road, outside the rain poured, and Lydia didn’t like this kind of place, where everything smelled like familiarity and old stuff, but she refused to spend one more minute with Jackson, and he told her to suit herself, she got out of the car and he simply drove out and let Lydia out in the rain, drenched to her bones. According to him she “should cool her mind down”. What Lydia isn’t prepared for, however, is for a gorgeous girl walk in that lame ass diner. She is, like Lydia, wet and looking for heat. But unlike Lydia, she has a glow in her hazel eyes, like she was happy to be there. Lydia simply watched as the girl took her jacket out and hanged it, and proceeded to sit beside her.  


“A black coffee, please and uh – that pie looks great, I want a slice of it as well.” The girl said, in a warm voice.  


The barista nodded, bored. Lydia thought it was absurd that he could be bored when someone like that directly talked at him. She looked with the corner of her eyes, interested, but not looking to pry. It was hard when the girl had sat just beside her on the counter stools, even though there were empty places all around the diner. Lydia continued to sip on her coffee, still hating her, still hating Jackson, caught up in her own thoughts.  


Lydia failed to notice the girl was staring at her, with a curious look on her face.  


“You look like you had a rough time.” The girl said, smiling lightly as the barista served her coffee and pie.  


“I hate the rain.” Lydia said, absent-mindedly. Maybe the girl wasn’t bothered about prying on stuff, since she was so apparently open to conversation. But Lydia couldn’t blame her, Lydia was virtually the only other person from the female gender at the diner, the rest was old men eating pie and some truck drivers, which were smart enough not to cat call her when she walked in, but she suspected it was because she looked like she could murder anyone who even looked at her.  


“Oh, I get it.” The girl said, quietly while she put a piece of pie in her mouth.  


“I’m sorry.” Lydia apologized, seeing she had been rude. “I… just had a rough time, like you put it.” Lydia admitted.  


“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. And I’m sorry for being the weird stranger, but it’s just you’re not the exact kind of girl who comes here often.” The girl shrugged and then paused, and threw an apologizing look at Lydia. “I’m so sorry, that sounded like a bad pick up line, but I swear it was just an observation.”  


Lydia smiled a little at the girl’s concern. It was cute. Not that she really thought that the girl was making a move at her, but she would be positively flattered if she wanted to flirt with her. Lydia always wanted attention, it didn’t matter who it came from, and she sure didn’t look at the attention of a gorgeous female stranger, who was seemingly older and foxy, like a problem.  


“I don’t mean it as an offence, but you don’t exactly look like the type who comes here too much, too.” Lydia said.  


“I don’t.” She smiled “But this is a special occasion.”  


“Oh, can the stranger pry and ask why?”  


“Umm” She nodded “The stranger can. I’m just returning to Beacon Hills.”  


“Oh?”  


“Yeah. I spent sometime in the East Coast, and now I’m coming back home.”  


“East Coast?” Lydia was already paying full attention at the black haired girl on her side, she stared at her hazel eyes, which she first thought were gray, and then green, but a flicker of indirect light from the diner made it clear to her that they were hazel. Lydia always had this theory that eye color matched people’s personality. Like her eyes, this girl was a riddle to Lydia. But she could figure it out, she always did.  


“The stranger seems interested.” Lydia saw a smile playing on the girl’s lips for a moment.  


“The stranger needs to find something to take her mind off boring stuff she doesn’t want to deal with now.” She said.  


“Fair enough.” The brunette nodded “Just as long as the stranger keeps her cute interested look, I’ll tell.” Did she just call Lydia cute? This was so much better than spending the night with Jackson. Lydia felt some excitement bubbling inside her. Maybe walking into that diner wasn’t that bad of a decision.  


“The stranger crosses her heart and believes she is always cute.”  


“I just come to know the stranger, but I’m almost convinced.” Now the smile that the girl hid moments ago was fully plastered on her face. It was so compelling, Lydia was mesmerized. She had never seen such a beautiful girl and such a nice one. She almost wanted that a few moments ago the question if she came here often to be, in fact, a pick up line. “Okay. So I had been living with my brother in New York.”  


“New York?!” Lydia chirped, loudly enough for some truck drivers to turn to look at them. And then Lydia felt a bit of blood rushing on her cheeks. Lydia was blushing. Great. That was very sexy. Suave move, Lydia, suave.  


“Yes.” The girl confirmed as she finished her pie and her coffee.  


“Why the hell did you come back?”  


“Family business.” Okay. Evasive. So that was where the line was draw. Family issues, okay. Lydia got it, honestly. She had her share of troubles with the family as well.  


“Did you come back alone?” Lydia asked, perhaps holding the cup of coffee with too much strength.  


“Yes, it shouldn’t last long, and my brother has a job, so he stood in New York to take care of stuff while I come here and – take care of stuff.”  


“Oh.” Lydia’s face fell a bit, so beautiful dark haired, interesting stranger only came back for limited time? That was a disappointment. “Well, I hope your short stay here is nice. I’m Lydia, by the way. Lydia Martin.” Lydia held her hand out.  


“Laura Hale.” Finally a name, Lydia thought as Laura took her hand in hers and shook it, with the piercing but friendly look on her face.  


“Nice to meet you, Laura.” That name sounded familiar, and then Lydia almost felt like an idiot for two seconds before remembering why it did. Laura was a Hale as in the Hale family that had moved out some years ago before their house inexplicably turn to ruins after a fire that killed many of them. At least eight people, the news said. She felt terrible for Laura, once those people must’ve been mostly from her family and felt also somewhat like a twat for asking about what she was doing there. She probably had to set some stuff with the county, since the house was abandoned and the property wasn’t public, it must’ve been bestowed upon Laura the burden of having to deal with the legacy of her mostly deceased family.  


“It’s a pleasure.” Laura said. And it was too late before Lydia could stop the thought that it could be a bigger pleasure if she played the right cards. Her head was all over the place that night and she felt like a twelve year old boy. “What about you? What do you do?”  


“Right now?” Lydia asked and Laura nodded. “Well, right now I’m focusing on becoming the most successful student in this place. It shouldn’t be hard.” Lydia shrugged, speaking the truth and she kind of hoped Laura was into braggy smart thing, because Lydia loved to be just that.  


“Oh. I see.” Laura was amused. “What do you plan to do when you go to college?”  


This was nice. Laura took an interest to her. Asking about what she wanted to do. She grimaced, Lydia was pretty much torn between physics and mathematics, but she leaned towards physics more, just because there was a bit of humanity in physics, its laws have always fascinated Lydia and she couldn’t stop reading about them. She loved to read Stephen Hawking as well as other less known physicians who were also brilliant. “Well, I’m thinking physics.”  


“Is that so?” Lydia thought Laura’s smile couldn’t get bigger, but she was proved wrong. Anyway, it seemed like Laura might just be the kind of person that falls for the braggy smart thing. “I really liked physics when I was in school. The only part I didn’t like that much was all the formulas.”  


Lydia could see why people didn’t like them, because most of them didn’t understand them. Most people couldn’t quite just do the bridge between numbers and words, but it wasn’t her case. Lydia loved it all, the more things it related, the more Lydia was satisfied. It was the closest thing as knowing how humans act and to understand nature. She wasn’t the kind of girl who thought too philosophically. She always wanted answers and she wanted them exact. Laura looked smart, and it was completely understandable why she might not be as fascinated to numbers as Lydia was.  


“Wanna know what’s my favorite postulate?” Lydia asked, in a charming and low voice, looking at Laura with her big green eyes. The girl smiled and nodded slowly, holding her gaze. “Entropy.” Laura smiled wider. “Everything tends towards chaos.”  


Lydia reflected on how it was true. Our molecules are held by some kind of glue that lately, when we die, just dismiss. We return to the atmosphere, we are energy who turns into human form, and we are always changing, always wandering. People are never constant. We all tend towards chaos, even the sanest minds. Laura seemed to think about that too. And she seemed to agree. It was an educated guess, but entropy serves both as worry and a comforting motive, that way, if you don’t believe in afterlife, you know that the ones you love never really leave you, they are there somewhere connected to the world around you. It was a comforting thought, to know that even after death they still found ways to be around you and keep you alive. Wasn’t Lavoisier that said that all matter conserves? In nature, nothing is created and nothing is loss, everything transforms.  


“Wanna know mine?” Laura said, after a quiet moment. “Like waves, people can be constructive or destructive.”  


Lydia remembered to have read something quite similar to that in one of her Stephen Hawking’s books. She thought it was “Great Design”. After Laura said that, Lydia – who had been 50% swooned in the moment Laura came in, already felt annoyingly swept off her feet. It would be a great way to forget Jackson. It would be a great way to forget everything if she and Laura just went to a quiet place and stood there talking all night, just talking. It didn’t have to have any romantic moments or – like what Lydia liked best – hook ups. She wanted to genuinely just talk to Laura and run away from her boring life.  


“Stephen Hawking?” Lydia asked.  


“I read one or two books he wrote.” Laura shrugged.  


The rain outside had decreased a considerable amount, and it wasn’t exactly early for Lydia to flaunt around her beautiful brain anymore, she really liked talking to Laura, and she wanted to frankly speak more with her about whatever went down in that beautiful head, but she had to go home. Lydia sighed and asked for the check as Laura watched. Lydia hadn’t noticed before, but Laura had a very raw quality about her, she was strangely wild. Contained, but sometimes Lydia would get a glimpse of it. It made her wonder how Laura was when she was alone, if she was so poised and civilized all the time or if she surrendered to a wilder side that she might’ve kept hidden. It made Lydia wonder about other stuff as well, but a lady like Lydia wouldn’t dare to say it out loud.  


“I should go.” Lydia said and Laura nodded. She was positively cold seeing that the water from the time she spent on the rain hadn’t dried out completely. Laura nodded and closed her check just after Lydia. Lydia looked at her with an inquiring look.  


“What?” Laura asked, looking surprised. “I’m not letting you just go around all alone.” When Lydia opened her mouth to protest, Laura already had seen it coming “You look like you handle it just fine, but please” Laura said “just give this woman here some peace of mind.”  


Lydia didn’t have a comeback for that, she just accepted it quietly. There was a technicality, though. Lydia was wet – not the good kind of wet. Laura was also wet. Which probably meant Laura didn’t have a car, which meant they were back where they began. Both would just walk home completely soaked?  


“Um… Not to be untoward, but, we’re both soaking wet. So what I’m drawing from this experience is that neither of us has a mean of transportation.” Lydia pointed out.  


“You’re right and wrong.” Laura said, calm, and then at Lydia’s complete look of obliviousness she just shook off the girl’s worry. “You are right in pointing out we both are wet, but it does not mean I don’t have a mean of transportation. I do have a car, in fact.”  


“Well, yes, me too, but it’s not here…”  


“Mine is.” Laura interrupted, with a small smile. “I just thought it would be nice to go out and play in the rain.”  


“No offense, but are you a dog?” Lydia said. She really didn’t mean to offend Laura, but it was just so unlikely. Why in heavens would she want to stay soaking at the pouring rain and in the cold? Dogs were the only beings that Lydia could compare to that behavior. Well, she could point out a few species of animals that also had that behavior, but she just said what was in the top of her mind. Laura seemed to find that hilarious. She laughed and laughed, until a tear fell down from her cheeks. She, then, proceeded to hold her laugh and looked at Lydia with still amused eyes.  


“If you only knew.” Laura said. “I just thought it was a nice idea. I obviously didn’t think it through, since I’m cold as North Pole right now. But fret not, for my car has a heater. What do you say?” Laura asked and arched one of her perfect made and black as night eyebrows.  


“I can’t say no to a logic like that.” Lydia could. But the point is that she didn’t want to. If anything, she just wanted to know more about Laura Hale and her mysterious, however friendly, ways.  


Laura grabbed her jacket on the hanger and waited for Lydia and they went out of the diner into the still annoying drizzle outside. Laura walked quietly and soundlessly by Lydia’s side. She was just so – fluid. Laura’s movements were fluid and light and she looked like she might’ve danced ballet in the past. Lydia was hypnotized by the way she walked. Not because of Laura’s perfect slim body but just because it was interesting to watch, Lydia’s theory of the girl being somewhat wild was slowly building and assuming shape. The quiet woods around them seemed to welcome Laura. She had never seen somebody who mixed up quite well to that scenery as Laura did.  


Laura stopped in front of some sort of metallic thing. Then, Lydia realized what it was: a black car. Lydia knew enough about cars – how engines worked and everything else, and something about car models as well, to know that was a full on black Camaro. That was… Kind of hot, if she’d admit it. Laura contoured the car and opened the passenger’s door to Lydia. “Milady.” She said, and Lydia entered the car who had a deep leather smell inside it. It was strangely personal, that car. There was a picture on the dashboard of Laura and someone else, a guy. Laura was smiling the smile she – as Lydia believed – flashed to anyone who was willing to look, but the guy didn’t have the same spirit. He had a sulky expression like that was the worst idea since the invention of polyester. Laura slipped into the vehicle and locked the doors. She noticed Lydia’s slight trembling beside her and turned up the heater. Lydia was very appreciative of that. The car silently roared to life and they began to drive away from the diner and into the city. Laura turned on the radio on some random station that was playing – ironically – “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman. Laura seemed to find that very amusing and a smirk sprouted on the corner of her lips.  


“That’s a nice picture right there.” Lydia managed to say after her teeth had stopped rattling. The heat of the car was so comforting she could fall asleep right there.  


“I told Derek that when we took it.” Laura looked quickly at the picture; probably having memorized everything about it already. “He didn’t seem to think so.” She smiled “He’s my younger brother.”  


“Oh.” Lydia said, nodding slowly. So the Hales all looked good, was that it? Either way, between the siblings, Lydia found Laura more to her taste. Derek was, however, a good looking guy, but he didn’t look like tons of fun, or, for that matter, as chatty as Laura.  


“So, where do you live?” Laura asked.  


“Green Gardens, Main Street, just by the bakery.” Lydia said, pleased to be useful.  


“Fancy.” Laura replied. “I always wanted to live at Green Gardens someday. You know, when I got married and had some kids, I guess. It’s a pipe dream, though.”  


“You don’t wanna do it anymore?” Lydia said not sure if she was asking about living at the Green Gardens, marrying someone or having kids. She calculated that the Hales should be loaded, because they lived in a mansion when the family was at full speed, and now, with the tragedy, they should have received a considerable amount of insurance money.  


“I might’ve missed my window.” Laura said, with a stench of sadness lingering in her voice as she steered the wheel looking out for the traffic lights.  


“Oh, come on.” Lydia protested, not admitting that someone like Laura, who didn’t look a day over twenty-six, already felt old and that she had wasted a considerable time in her life. From what she barely knew of Laura, she considered her fascinating. And people didn’t tend to look fascinating to Lydia. She was bored out of her mind by them. But Laura was something else. Even though carrying whatever ghosts she did, she could still pretty much be anything she wanted to. “Don’t be an old lady on me right now.”  


Laura laughed and the sadness that hovered momentarily over them was gone by the clear sound of her laugh. “So that’s where we draw the line, huh? No kinks with old people: noted.”  


“Maybe only with Gary Oldman.”  


“To be fair, he’s not that old.”  


“So, um, do you have any… you know, people who you are seeing romantically back in New York?” Lydia asked, leaving the whole ‘don’t care’ act she played daily behind.  


“That was unexpected and incredibly personal.” Laura grinned “But no. I was going out with a girl but it didn’t work out.”  


“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lydia lied.  


“Don’t be.” Laura threw a look at the redhead. “You know what they say: when one door closes another opens, or something like that. How about you, any romantic wrappings on your horizon?”  


“I don’t know. I had a boyfriend, but I’m not sure anymore. I don’t feel like I want to date him anymore.”  
“Well. Then don’t.” Laura said, simply. She had stopped the car. They were parked in front of the Green Gardens Residential gate while the security asked for Laura’s ID, which she willingly gave him and he told her to proceed, and so she did.  


“It’s um, complicated.”  


“Does he treat you well?”  


Lydia took a beat. No. He didn’t. And she was kind of mad at that question. People didn’t usually ask her if Jackson treated her well. They just went for the ‘Do you like him?’ question. Which was really relative. Lydia had never really “liked” anyone. She just picked with whom she went out. She never really had deep ties with anyone and she was, honestly, tired of it. She didn’t want to burst through her life not having ties. She needed to reconnect, but Jackson wasn’t the right person for the job, she figured.  


“Oh, well.” Laura said, after it was pretty clear that Lydia wasn’t answering the question. “Shame on him. We have arrived, Miss Martin.” She felt the Camaro stopping once again. They were parked now in front of the bakery. Lydia’s house just across the street. “Come here.” Laura beckoned in the sexiest voice Lydia ever heard and she obeyed. Laura planted a kiss on Lydia’s cheek, too close to her mouth, Lydia grimaced, wanting Laura to have been even boulder and aimed straight for her lips. Laura’s face was inches apart and her luminous hazel eyes were locked onto Lydia’s. “Tell that boyfriend of yours that if he doesn’t watch his back, someone’s gonna steal you away.” Was that a promise? Laura’s breath was inebriating. It smelled like the coffee she just had. Laura pulled away and unlocked the door. Lydia grabbed her purse and headed out of the car, but she stopped before closing the door to look at Laura again.  


“Can I… Can we see each other sometime?” She asked, insecure. This wasn’t a common feature of Lydia.  


“Oh, yes. Laura ripped a piece of paper that was on the driver’s door cockpit and wrote her cellphone on it, she handed it to Lydia and held both the pen and her hand out.  


“What is this?”  


“My number, Reds.” Oh? Are we having nicknames now? “And this one is my hand for you to write yours.”  


Lydia took the piece of paper zealously, grabbed the pen and scribbled her number on Laura’s palm. Which - for future reference - was really smooth. As Laura looked down at her hand, seeming somewhat satisfied, Lydia closed the Camaro’s door. “I’ll call you.” She promised.  


“I look forward to it.” Laura grinned.  


Lydia grinned back and crossed the street walking up to her front porch, she turned to watch as Laura’s black Camaro roared and drove down the street and out of Green Gardens Residential. She was holding Laura’s number against her chest, and she felt so relaxed when she walked into her house. She hadn’t felt this well in a long time.  


***  


The next time Lydia sees Laura, she recently had broken up with Jackson and the initiative parted from her. Ever since their encounter, Lydia’s interest for Laura hadn’t died down even a bit. She often thought about what the girl was doing. Was she taking care of family business like she said she was going to do? Lydia dialed up her number and anxiously expected Laura to pick it up.  


“Morning.” Laura’s voice came out of the speaker, husky. She must’ve been sleeping, even though it was already past 11 a.m.  


“Did I wake you up?” Lydia asked, apologizing.  


“Oh, no. Not at all. I was just resting my eyes for a bit before you called.”  


“You know what they say about how much REM sleep you get. You can have a deficiency of that and it is sure a reason to worry.” Lydia started with her confident banter.  


“I’m pretty sure I’m fine.” Laura yawned on the other side of the line. “And I prefer to think of R.E.M as the band.”  


“Cute.” Lydia said, faking annoyance, but she found it funnyish. “So, I was thinking… Do you want to hang out sometime?”  


Laura’s voice came a moment later. “I would like that.”  


“There’s this great Italian place on Manning street…”  


“Sounds fancy. I’m in.” Lydia could almost feel the smile on Laura’s voice. “Is boyfriend joining us?”  


“Boyfriend isn’t coming along as I do not have one anymore.” Lydia admitted.  


“What changed your mind?”  


“I did.” Yes, she had. As well as the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Laura all the time. It was certainly not the healthiest thing to fantasize with Laura pulling the car by the school parking lot just to pick Lydia up in her leather jacket and black Camaro. In those fantasies, Lydia walked slowly and sensually towards the car as Laura leaned on the car, with a smirk on her lips and her hands tucked on her jeans pockets. As Lydia got closer, Laura would put her hands on the small of her back and Lydia would taste those lips that looked oh-so-good by the dashboard lights the other night. It was a long shot, but Lydia was, well, Lydia. She was granted the hottest girl in school and she knew just how to play her cards right. Making Laura interested didn’t seem like a faraway possibility. She could work her way up on the girl’s priorities. Maybe, who knows, Laura even decided to stay longer.  


“I’m glad to hear that.” Laura answered “So, when are we meeting?”  


“How does tonight sound?” Lydia asked, knowing that was very sudden but not wanting to have to wait even more for Laura’s presence.  


“I think I can do that.”  


“Great. Can you pick me up at my house at eight?”  


“Surely can.”  


“I’ll be waiting. And oh, wear something nice.”  


Laura laughed. “I always do, Reds.”  


They said goodbyes and hung up the phone, and Lydia’s heart felt uneasy with anticipation. She waited anxiously for the dinner and to see Laura again. And this time, Laura was in for a whole night of Lydia’s trademark flirtations.  


At eight, Laura punctually pulled by Lydia’s house. Lydia, in her room, looked down on her window to see the black Camaro and the slim figure sliding out of it. She turned to face the mirror and applied a perfect layer of lipstick on her lips and pouted. Satisfied at how she looked, Lydia smirked at her reflection and ran down the stairs with poise. She adjusted the skirt of her dress, smiled widely and finally opened the door to face Laura Hale. Who looked incredible. Laura wore a black dress, that wasn’t tight but clung to all the right places on her body. It wasn’t short as well. That was the difference between Laura and Lydia, Laura was so… Mature. She didn’t want anyone to pay attention to her, but she was impossible not to look at. While all Lydia wanted was for everyone to look at her, notice her. They were counterparts. Lydia with her bright pink dress and lively make up, Laura wearing the black dress and light make up. And Lydia was completely mesmerized by the visage of the woman before her.  


“I once saw an expose of Van Gogh’s works.” Laura said, smiling at Lydia. “You, however, are as much mesmerizing as they were. Perhaps more.” Damn. She was good. Laura Hale got so much game. She also smelled fantastic as she leaned closer and held Lydia. Just a brief hug due to the fact that they actually didn’t know each other that well, but Lydia was hoping to change that.  


“Thank you.” Lydia nodded appreciating.  


“So, um, Miss Martin, are we going out on a date?”  


Lydia smirked. “I hope so. Only if you want to.”  


“I thought you were never gonna ask.” Laura smiled and opened the car door to Lydia. She was just so gentle. Lydia, it was a pity but it was true, wasn’t used to being treated with ceremonies or with wooing. She wasn’t the kind of girl who expected for a knight in white armor to save her, or, in this case, a she-knight. But she had to admit that it was nice to have someone who cared for her and would worry so much on doing things right. Laura could’ve picked her up, they could’ve hooked up or fucked right away, but no, Laura was very pleased playing this game. Being the woman who opens doors and tries – and succeeds – to woo Lydia.  


Lydia slipped into the Camaro as well as Laura and the familiar insides were as comfortable as the other day. Laura began to steer away from Lydia’s house.  


“Where are we going?”  


“I’ll tell you, just take a right here.”  


Laura did as Lydia said. Lydia wanted to be professional about this but she couldn’t control herself when Laura’s legs were exposed the way they were, inches away from her. So instead she looked out the window thinking of something to say, but Laura beat her up to it.  


“Were home alone?”  


“Yeah. I usually am.”  


“Oh. Your parents are workaholics?”  


“My dad is. My mom’s just… Always busy.” Lydia said it with a discomfort in her voice. Her parents were a sore point and Laura seemed to pick it up. Sometimes, she thought Laura had a kind of sixth sense, a superpower, perhaps.  


“You don’t have to talk about it. Family can be… complicated.” Laura turned to look at her quickly and throw her an understanding smile.  


>>>>>  


The date went well and they talked about everything and just nothing at all. They didn’t actually were invasive in each other’s lives and it felt to them, even being unspoken, that too many bridges were burned down to go there. Lydia and her unhappy but picture perfect family and Laura and her tragically deceased family.  


They had fun. Lydia was on full speed with her flirtation and Laura, opposed to every guy Lydia dated, knew how to handle it. She had to keep reminding herself that Laura was different. Laura owned up to what she was, she was a full grown woman who had business to take care of, she was mature and that’s what Lydia thought had lured her so much. As the evening progressed, they talked about New York and future plans and Lydia told Laura about her few friends in Beacon Hills. Those would be just Danny and Jackson. But now, with her breaking up with Jackson, Danny was her only friend. But then again, he was everyone’s friend. Laura seemed to be saddened by it, and Lydia was too, but she just grown out of it. She was the one who didn’t let people in because deep own she thought that once they took a glance at the real Lydia they would run as fast as they could. She wasn’t a nice person. She had… Darkness and sadness inside her. She was suspicious that if Laura just took a look to it, she would run away too. So what exactly was Lydia doing? She didn’t go out with girls, she didn’t go out with pretty strangers like Laura but she couldn’t help it. She liked Laura. She liked that Laura was interested in her. She might let Laura in sometime, when she was sure Laura wouldn’t run away.  


There was a moment when Laura and she were casually talking and Laura rested her hand on top of Lydia’s. And she just kept it there. It felt nice. Lydia and Jackson never held hands. They were always about hookups and they barely looked at each other when they went out to dinner. Lydia would look at her reflection in the mirror and Jackson would just look at his phone all the time. When they broke up, Lydia somewhat suffered, but then she realized she didn’t love Jackson, she loved her image with him. The flawless popular kids who were fucked up in innumerous ways. They had decided to close the check and Laura didn’t protest when Lydia told her she would be the one paying it, after all, the date was her idea.  


Laura left her at her doorstep, and after a moment of awkwardness and not knowing what to say to each other, Laura leaned in and kissed Lydia. Lydia softly gasped, satisfied, and wrapped her arms around Laura’s neck. Laura’s lips were soft and delicious and she kissed Lydia gently, but her hands were rough on Lydia’s sides, and Lydia liked that an incredible amount. After a moment deepening the kiss, Lydia had to get some distance so she could breathe, and she opened her eyes to see the most fascinating hazel eyes staring back at her. They smiled at each other and while they weren’t kissing anymore, they were close enough to feel the smile in each other’s mouth. Some more kissing went on, until Lydia realized it was getting late, and so they proceeded to kiss goodbye and Laura got in her black Camaro and drove away, but not before asking Lydia if they could repeat that. Lydia agreed.  


***  


They had been seeing each other for a couple of months now. The fantasy Lydia had carefully dreamed up of getting out of school while Laura waited confidently out of her Camaro was no longer a fantasy. Laura parked her car a bit away from school grounds, though, and when Lydia asked why and if she was ashamed of her, Laura would kiss away her worries and tell her it was “for her safety” which Lydia reckoned as a big bowl of bullshit. But it was okay. Laura treated Lydia good, she always was there for Lydia with her teenager problems and dilemmas of which skirt looked better. Though often Laura would joke around and say she rather see Lydia wearing none. Despite that, they were very chaste and Laura seemed opposed to any casual intercourses between them, which, as it progressed, left Lydia extremely frustrated.  


But Lydia was happy. She had a girlfriend, and Laura was fantastic. It only got better because Jackson knew Lydia enough to know something was going on and sulked all day at her for being happier without him.  


The nightmare began in one of the many nights that Lydia would spend with Laura at her Bed and Breakfast bedroom. They would catch up on how was Lydia’s week and sometimes, Laura would watch her with heart eyes while she did homework. They never went out to dance clubs or whatsoever, for the same reason why Laura would pick her up a bit farther from Beacon Hills High parking lot. Lydia didn’t mind living down this little perfect niche she and Laura had built around them. She liked it. She liked that Laura was silent and paid attention to her, and the way that she fell asleep on Laura’s lap while the older woman played with her hair. It felt safe. In many ways, Laura had stirred Lydia up from her dull routine and provided a safe harbor for her. She was, in some ways, like a guardian to Lydia. And the way she constantly held her hand, and was somewhat contrary on letting it go – because Laura had let go many things on her life already – amused her. It was like Lydia was the best gift Laura could’ve ever received, when, in fact, Lydia suspected it was the other way around. Lydia didn’t want to jinx it by saying it, and because she was very scared of admitting – but she was falling in love with Laura Hale. She had never been in love before, not like this. She always thought love was a trap for fools instead of the clichés of love setting people free. But the truth was that she and Laura had connected in a way that never happened before and to think of Laura going back to New York just drove Lydia insane. She had a precious thing now. She didn’t want to lose it. She wished Laura wouldn’t go back to New York and leave her.  


But one cliché that Lydia failed to understand was that you have to be careful for what you wish for.  


Laura was extremely quiet that day, and Lydia just didn’t get it. She told Laura about Scott and Stiles – the pair of goofy friends that Lydia found amusing, but didn’t actually interact with – last feat in lacrosse practice, but Laura just kept looking straight at the TV, with a worried sick look on her face. Lydia had never seen her so tense.  


“Laura.” Lydia sat across from her and softly took a hold of her chin to make Laura look at her. “You’re drifting. What’s going on? Are you okay?”  


“Yes, I’m… I’m okay.” Laura gave Lydia a small smile that looked far from okay.  


“I know you, okay?” Lydia was up on her knees on top of the bed, making her way to straddle Laura; she did so and kissed the woman on the lips. “Come on. Tell me what’s going on. I’m fairly convinced I’m good on solving problems.”  


Laura looked up at her with her big hazel eyes who were dark with – what seemed to Lydia – pain. Lydia felt her chest tightening. Was Laura about to break up with her? Did she find out anything new about her family’s fire? What the hell was going on?  


“I need to show you something.” Laura said with a insecure voice.  


“Okay, sweetie. Whatever you want as long as what’s troubling you goes away.” Lydia held Laura’s hand. “We can work this out, okay?”  


Laura kissed her with urgency and lifted Lydia so she could get up. While Lydia still sat on the bed wondering what was going on, she watched as Laura shuffled her jacket’s pocket to retrieve the Camaro’s key.  


“Where are we going?” Lydia asked, hesitating.  


“You’ll see.”  


“Laura, I don’t mean this to offend you but you’re kind in a weird mood right now and I don’t think you should drive.”  


Laura got close to Lydia and stroke her cheek with her thumb. “Please, Lydia.” Laura had never begged to Lydia do anything ever. She never begged anything. Laura Hale didn’t do begging. So this was something really important and she just couldn’t look at those eyes she recently began to love as hurt as they were now. Under Laura’s hand, Lydia nodded. Laura proceeded to hold her hand and they got out of the Bed & Breakfast and into Laura’s most familiar Camaro.  


Laura drove away as swiftly as ever, but her hands clenched at the steering wheel and she didn’t dare to look over to Lydia, like she always did, not once. Lydia felt a building worry grow inside of her. Maybe Laura was driving Lydia back to her house. Maybe this was it. She had settled with whatever business she had to take care of and now was returning to New York and she had to break things off with Lydia. But it would be weird because all of Lydia’s belongings were left at Laura’s bedroom. Wouldn’t that be the case to take them along?  


Laura parked the car in front of a huge wooden foundation. They got out of the car, and Laura – holding Lydia’s hand – led them closer, until they were five steps from the front porch. It was not just any foundation. It was a house, or better, a mansion. A mansion that looked like it was the home of some family one day but now was completely turned to ruins. Lydia had never entered those woods or saw that house. But she had a very prominent hunch that this was the old burned up Hale House. This was where Laura and her brother, Derek, and the other people used to live. Lydia’s free hand rested on the left side of her chest, clutching it. Laura had taken Lydia to see where she used to live. She wanted Lydia to see it, for some reason Lydia couldn’t even begin to reason.  


Laura sighed and climbed the steps with Lydia on her heels. She gently pushed the door, just as a habit, since they could barge in by walking over the ruins of what used to be the Hale’s front wall in the past. Laura guided her up in the dark, dusty chamber, and they climbed up a stairwell.  


“Watch your step.” Laura said.  


“I don’t understand. How can you even see anything? It’s so dark.”  


“I just know this place.” Laura admitted and Lydia bit her tongue for asking. So much for being sensible now. Lydia softly squeezed Laura’s hand in what she hoped the other would understand as her trying to “tranquilize” her.  


They managed to get to the second floor, and Laura took a turn by the top of the stairs, leading them to a moonlight lit room, who had half of its walls destroyed and ablaze, and now they were crumbling down, thus causing a space where the moonlight could project itself. Laura stopped and looked at Lydia. Lydia felt her gaze, but she was looking around, guilty for being marveled at what she saw. From the blue wisps of moonlight projected into the room, Lydia could distinguish some things. She distinguished drawings and handwritten quotes on the wall. As well as the wooden shreds of a bookshelf who still precariously had half burned books in its inside. The floor was also burned in the most part. And the wall that faced what could be a bed or a loveseat had pieces of pictures stapled to it. Lydia walked closer to touch it. That was Laura’s life right there. This was everything Laura knew and that was taken from her. Lydia’s eyes welled up but she dismissed the tears. This was not her pain to feel.  


“I think you know where we are.” Laura said from behind her. And Lydia turned to see her leaning on the shreds of the bookshelf beneath her.  


“This is your room.” A certainty invaded Lydia as she spoke.  


“This was an easy riddle for you.” Laura smirked. But it wasn’t the warm smirk she usually threw at Lydia. This one almost looked bittersweet.  


“Laura, why are we here? Why did you want to show me… this?” Lydia gestured towards the two and a half walls around them.  


“I need to tell you something, Lydia. And I’m telling you this because…” Laura trailed off and breathed in, seemingly to muster up courage. Lydia’s heart figuratively stopped. “Because I think I’m in love with you. And I’ve never been in love with anyone else.”  


Lydia felt sheer relief. So she wasn’t the only one. So maybe this wasn’t about Laura leaving her and going to New York. Maybe this was related to Laura’s ghosts of her past and she wanted Lydia to understand them. Lydia stepped over to hug her, but Laura stopped her with a hand.  


“Please, let me finish.” Lydia stopped and stared at her while Laura stared back. “I never showed this to anyone, and honestly, I think people would freak out if they saw it, but this has been eating me up inside. I came back here for a reason, Lydia. A reason that I do believe it’s entranced with whom I happen to be.” Laura stopped and gulped, and Lydia waited. “I’m an alpha.”  


That seemed like it was supposed to give Lydia some information, but Lydia didn’t quite catch it. She just continued to look at Laura, with a look that demanded more information.  


“What I’m trying to say is – fuck, this is harder than I thought it’d be – Lydia, I’m a werewolf.”  


Laura waited, calmly, with expectance in her eyes while Lydia digested the information. Lydia narrowed her eyes, and then nodded, chewing on her tongue.  


“Is this some kind of joke?” Lydia spat out as she crossed her arms furiously over her chest.  


“What?! No! Lydia, this is who I am. I’m an alpha werewolf.” Laura spoke up, she looked serious but Lydia didn’t buy it for a second. Laura was toying with her. Well, she should’ve known better.  


“Well. In case you didn’t notice, werewolves don’t exist. But proceed to live in that little fairy tale world of yours being the big bad wolf as I, I’m supposing I’m Red Riding Hood, walk out of this house.” Lydia turned her back and started making her way out of the room. Laura’s hands held her shoulders, restraining her. “Get off of me.” Lydia said in a low, but furious voice. Laura continued to hold her. “I said: GET OFF.” Lydia raised her voice and that time, Laura removed her hands.  


“Lydia, please!” Laura pleaded. “I brought you here because I wanted you to know that I wasn’t lying when I said I was in love with you! I am in love with you! But I have to show you who I really am. Please, just… Don’t go.” Laura’s voice fell back into a small, felt request. Her voice broke, which caused Lydia to stop. “I thought this was a good idea. I never brought anyone here after what happened. You are the first one. The first one I felt comfortable enough to show you all of these broken things right here.” Laura sighed. “These broken things that are part of me. I am broken, Lydia. And the only thing that’s right and that isn’t broken in my life is you. Please. Stay.”  


Lydia was softened by the appeal, and returned to look at Laura, who seemed devastated. Lydia still didn’t believe her. But damn, she wanted to.  


“I can show you.” Laura finally said, beaten.  


“Go on, then.” Lydia didn’t want Laura to see the cracks on her skin where, inside, she was as heartbroken as Laura sounded.  


Laura nodded, obediently. Lydia gasped when Laura’s hazel eyes gleamed sparkly red in the blue shade that lit the room. Laura’s face was transmorphed into something that looked animalistic. Laura’s back arched and her height was going down considerably. She didn’t look like she was in pain, like normal werewolf stories would have you believe. She looked like she was in control. A growl sprouted from Laura’s throat, and she turned into a voluminous dark being. Lydia’s mouth agape was wide. She covered her mouth with her hands, disbelieving. She stepped back from the animal – not just any animal, a huge black wolf – until she felt her back leaning against the wall. The wolf sat down before her. It was Lydia’s height, and then some. The eyes were red, and the black fur was shiny, much like Laura’s hair. The eyes of the creature had a polite interest and intelligence in it.  


“L-Laura?” Lydia called out, her voice was shaken.  


The wolf barked back at her. And lied down by her feet. She had read about that. Wolves never let their guard down. Unless if they were taking orders from the leader of their packs – their alpha. Laura Hale was a werewolf. Laura Hale was an alpha werewolf.  


Lydia felt the ground opening up beneath her, and while she felt dizzy and about to pass out, she felt hands holding her up. Human hands. She looked over and saw a human Laura staring intently at her.  


“Lydia, are you okay?” Laura asked, worry filling up her voice.  


“I’m… You’re a werewolf.”  


“I told you so.”  


“Are you going to kill me?”  


Laura laughed. The atmosphere was tense but she just couldn’t hold it in. “Don’t be ridiculous.”  


“I feel like I’m going to pass out.” Lydia sat down on the dusty floor, and Laura sat beside her.  


“I’m sorry.” Laura asked, hesitating to put her hands on Lydia again. Lydia breathed in a deep breath and exhaled. She had to calm herself down. Laura was still Laura even if she was a werewolf, right? She didn’t attack Lydia. In fact, she seemed pretty under control. Lydia’s girlfriend was a huge canine beast, she just had to take some time to handle that. But she could do it. After all, Laura told her she was falling in love with her, right?  


“Are you in love with me?” Lydia asked, with an unsteady breath.  


Laura barked out a laugh. Now all the similarities of how Laura firstly looked wild, of how Laura used to smell everything closely, like she was taking in the scent – like how she used to carefully sniff Lydia’s neck and her hair. How Laura listened and paid attention to everything around her. She had to, she was an alpha and that meant exactly what? That she was the one to take care of any eventual disturbances around. “Yes, Lydia Martin. I am in love with you. Really, of all the things I just said to you, this is the part you choose to focus? I’m not complaining.”  


What would Lydia do? She was also in love with Laura. Even if she was a werewolf. Laura was still Laura.  


“I’m guessing this business you had to take care of involves werewolf stuff?”  


“Yes. Or at least I think so.” Laura scratched the top of her head.  


“How so?”  


“Have you heard of the murders going on here?” Laura asked and Lydia nodded. “Well, that might have something to do with… Us. Well, werewolves, I mean.”  


“Are there more?” Lydia startled.  


“Yes. There are. But like anyone there are good werewolves who decide to remain in peace, and there are others who just… Don’t.” Laura explained. “This is why I didn’t you to get involved with this. Why I didn’t want us to be seen together. Because maybe, by being with me, you would be in danger.”  


“Am I in danger?”  


“I don’t know yet. I don’t know what this… creature wants.” Laura said. “I understand if you choose to leave me.” Laura looked up at her, with an apologizing gaze.  


“I’m not leaving you. How dare you?” Lydia busted out. “Now that you come in and tell me that I might be in danger? Now that I know you turn to a full grown wolf with the full moon?”  


“It’s not only on full moons…” Laura interrupted.  


“I’m talking, Laura Hale.” Lydia shushed her. “I’m not leaving you, okay? I feel like I might pass out anytime and it is too much information to take in at once, but I am Lydia Martin. And I just don’t leave problems unsolved. So whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me. And that’s it.” Lydia said and crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest.  


Laura stumbled closer to Lydia, brushed her hair off her face and kissed her with so much passion it left Lydia breathless.  


“Thank you.” Laura’s words were sincere. It didn’t matter whatever happen, Lydia wasn’t going to give up on Laura. Laura had enough as it was. She had lost enough as it was. She wasn’t going to lose Lydia as well.  


“So, my girlfriend’s a werewolf, huh?” Lydia said it out loud, because the idea sounded hilarious in her head.  


“A pretty hot one, though.”  


“A pretty hot one.” Lydia agreed.  


Laura just took in a moment staring at Lydia. “You know, I can see you perfectly in here, with this poor lighting rather than with all the lights on. I can pick up all the little details in your face.”  


“How do I look?”  


“Like a work of art.” Laura said with no traces of jokes on her voice. Lydia leaned in to reconnect their lips.  


“Let’s go home.” Lydia whispered in Laura’s ear. It was funny to refer like that to a Bed & Breakfast room but it was their home, their little habitat that provided them comfort and a safe place. Inside there, Lydia would open up to Laura and they wouldn’t be in danger to any kind of werewolf stuff. Laura just nodded. She agreed with Lydia about that little room being their house too.  


They drove away, and Laura was back to normal again, smirking at Lydia while she glanced at her, and holding hands. Lydia was freaked out at first, but now the effect of it had worn off. Maybe she could worry about it another time. Right now, she just wanted to be with Laura. After all, they said they were in love with each other. And no one had ever fallen in love with Lydia before. She wanted to go to Laura’s room, and to kiss her. She wanted to be with Laura in a more intimate way. But by Laura’s rule, all she would get would be cuddling. What wasn’t bad either.  


Laura was quiet on the way back, but not tense as she had been before telling Lydia she was a werewolf. She held her hand and sometimes, let it go so she could rest her hand on Lydia’s thigh. She opened the door and flickered the lights on. Lydia plopped herself down on the bed and turned the TV. Laura put the keys away and took her jacket off. She was wearing a black tank top underneath it. Lydia quietly admired her muscular and slim body, with the tank top clinging to all the right places. Lydia always talked about Laura in an intellectual level, and how she found that extremely attractive, which she did. But Laura was extremely attractive in many ways, including the physical way. Laura was extremely hot.  


“What?” Laura grinned at her. It wasn’t the normal grin she shot Lydia, it was almost a dirty grin, like they have been thinking the same thing.  


“Nothing. It’s just… You’re always comparing me to works of art but you’re the one who looks like was carved in marble.”  


“Thank you, Reds.” She loved when Laura called her Reds. No one ever gave Lydia a nick name, and she suspected that would be because she would just roll her eyes at anyone who would. But this was different. It was almost an inside joke between them. She loved how Laura looked cheesy when she said it.  
“You’re welcome.”  


Laura turned off the TV, and Lydia looked at her. She wasn’t watching that, but Laura seemed to want attention to her. Laura proceeded to straddle Lydia, and part of Lydia’s brain was a twelve year-old boy who was hyperventilating with how Laura was so hot and how she just wanted Laura, while the other part struggled to keep it cool, while she accommodated her hands comfortably on Laura’s sides. Laura kissed her neck, and slightly sucked on it, which caused Lydia to gasp and her breathe to be trapped inside her throat. Laura, then, kissed Lydia’s jawline, and finally, her mouth. And it was a dirty kiss. Lydia felt like Laura finally wanted her back, in that same way, and that she was holding back as much as Lydia was. Lydia’s hands found the brim of Laura’s tank top. Laura interrupted the kiss to look down at Lydia’s hand. “Well, then?” She arched one perfect eyebrow, and Lydia got that she was supposed to take it off. Lydia followed her unspoken instruction and ripped the shirt out by Laura’s lifted arms, and threw it far from where they were. Lydia was flabbergasted by the vision of Laura’s bare stomach and her breasts perfectly framed in her bra. Lydia’s mouth was dry with desire, and she licked her lips. Lydia kissed the soft skin between both of Laura’s breasts and Laura moaned, which only gave Lydia even more fuel to continue. She kissed up Laura’s collar bone, and the woman’s long neck, and then gently nibbled on her chin. Laura smiled. They weren’t going to stop now. They were both bursting with desire. They were both consenting to it.  


“Are you okay?” Laura asked, looking down at Lydia and caressing her hair.  


“I am.” Lydia smiled and said in short breaths. “Are you?”  


Laura kissed her gently, entwining Lydia’s tongue on hers. Lydia broke the kiss to mutter under her breath “I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’”. Laura smiled into the kiss.  


Laura’s hands slipped the zipper on Lydia’s dress down, revealing her chest and bra. At the vision of Lydia, half-naked, Laura’s eyes gleamed red, and Lydia thought she could get used to the werewolf thing really easily. They continued this way for a while. Until Lydia unbuttoned Laura’s jeans and Laura quickly struggle to remove her pants. Laura was only in her underwear now, and Lydia was overwhelmed by the vision, so she blurted out: “I love you.” She damned herself for doing that. Only two months went by, and she already loved Laura. And they hadn’t even slept together.  


“I love you too, Lydia.” Laura said, holding her gaze up, and smiling at her. They continued kissing, and let her hand slide slowly from the small of Laura’s back to her ass. Laura seemed to like it, and cladded even more to Lydia. Forcing them both to lie down, she removed Lydia’s dress.  


She was going to do it. She was about to sleep with Laura Hale.  


>>>>>  


The next morning, Lydia woke up with a silly smile plastered on her face. She scratched her sleepy eyes, and tried to turn in the bed, to find out Laura lying beside her, cuddling her. Flashbacks of the previous night came back to her mind, and she felt so satisfied – with her performance, that she judged was pretty good, and with the fact that she’d slept with Laura, who was so caring and affectionate towards her. And then, Laura told her she loved her. She couldn’t be happier, but then she felt the contours of the woman by her back. Lydia happy sighed. There were only a few moments like this in Lydia’s life. And ultimately, they had all been related with Laura Hale.  


***  


The perfect relationship went on for quite a while, until one day, Laura told Lydia she was busy that night, and that she wouldn’t be able to see her. Lydia was okay with that, after all, Lydia didn’t want any more murders going around in town and if Laura said she would stop it, Lydia believed one hundred percent that she would stop it.  


They were at Lydia’s porch, Lydia was inside a ridiculously large cardigan that was the best feeling ever – except maybe for Laura’s lips on hers, and Laura looked at her lovingly. They had been bantering like two twelve year olds, and kissing. When Laura announced it was time to go, Lydia felt a kind of agony in her chest, but being the logic person she was, she just dismissed it. If Laura said she would be back, then she would. No questions asked. Lydia trusted Laura. She was her alpha, as well. Laura gave her a lingering kiss.  


“I love you, Lydia Martin.” Laura said, smiling brightly at her.  


“I love you, Laura Hale.” Lydia vowed with all her heart.  


“Good. I thought you were with me only because of my smokin’ bod and my wits.”  


“And your pretty hazel eyes.” Lydia added.  


“And my pretty hazel eyes.” Laura smiled. She walked away towards the Camaro, and blew Lydia a kiss. Which Lydia caught, feeling ridiculous, and smacked against her heart.  


Lydia had no way of knowing that was going to be the last time she saw Laura Hale.  


>>>>>  


Laura didn’t come back that night, or any other, in fact. Lydia thought she had come back to New York and decided to leave her. But Laura wouldn’t just do that, this was Laura, her Laura. She had been missing. But how is anyone that nobody knows of is missing? Only Lydia knew her. Only Lydia knew her secret, and she couldn’t share it with anyone. Lydia had grown worried, and she couldn’t sleep or do anything at all. She hoped that an enemy clan was keeping Laura as a prisoner, or maybe a hunter clan, like Laura had warned her about. But Lydia wasn’t silly, it just seemed that the other alternative would drive Lydia insane.  


But it was one day, in Chemistry class that Lydia finally got confirmation. She overhead Stiles and Scott’s conversation. She was sitting down with her newest best friend, Allison Argent, and they were doing a pretty good job with their solution. Allison, though, was completely caught up in the work, not paying attention to anything around her. And Lydia got closer to where the boys were sitting, aiming to hear the conversation.  


“So, you do know who is the girl in the woods?” Scott asked, in a quick whisper to Stiles.  


“Yes. I got her file.” Stiles admitted.  


“Who is she, then?” Scott asked urgently.  


“Her name is Laura Hale.” Stiles said, and Lydia almost fell from the chair she was sitting. “It’s a pity, man, being torn in half like she was.”  


Lydia had to excuse herself from Mr. Harris’ class. How does one go on when their whole world is falling apart? Lydia felt like the air was knocked out of her chest while she walked down the hallways, and she ran into Jackson.  


“Whoa, Lydia, you look like shit.”  


Lydia’s breath was shaken. “Please, Jackson, take me home.”  


Given Lydia’s look, Jackson didn’t want to argue, and did what she asked. In five minutes, they were at Green Gardens and Lydia didn’t even thank him, she just got out of the Porsche and opened the door, climbed up the stairs quickly and entered her room. She sat down on her bed, who was so completely empty without Laura, even never having Laura on her bed. Which seemed like a waste now.  


Laura was dead.  


No, she couldn’t be dead. Lydia begged and hoped that Laura wasn’t dead. But she heard what Stiles said. Laura Hale was dead. And Lydia also was. Something that had sprouted inside her, any sense of belonging, of love, of being a better person was stolen away the moment she learned Laura died. Lydia didn’t manage to cry. She just stood there, in shock. Laura wasn’t coming back.  


Laura wasn’t going to tell Lydia she loved her anymore. Lydia spent so much time and energy to ensure Laura she wasn’t going to lose her, that she didn’t stop to think what would happen to her if she lost Laura. But Lydia, in all her reasoning, felt like a satellite, orbiting around nothing but a black void. Her supernova was Laura, and she had imploded. Or better, someone killed Laura. Even thinking of this words turn Lydia’s heart to shreds. She was dilacerated. Laura had become her sun, and now, without the sun, how could she orbit? She was a physics lady, she knew very well that when a supernova imploded, it swallowed everything in its orbit as well, leaving only the darkness and star dust.  


Laura Hale was dead.  


Lydia let her go. She shouldn’t have done that, she should have come together, she should have asked Laura to stay. If she asked, Laura would stay, right?  
Now there was nothing. There was no hope. Laura had departed and took every single streak of happiness that Lydia ever felt with it. And Lydia didn’t even have anything to cling to when she needed to remind herself that she hadn’t dreamed it all up. How could she distinguish Laura from her imagination now? How could she distinguish the real and the imaginary?  


Laura Hale was now a memory that inhabited only Lydia’s mind. But the love Lydia felt for her was present, choking Lydia. A disturbing reminder of the reality of it all, and the cruelty of it all.  


When the tears came, Lydia didn’t think they would ever stop.  


But they stopped. They were suppressed, as well as the memories of her and Laura. Lydia shut it all down. Even the slightest memory of the werewolf business.  


>>>>>  


It had been weeks now, and Lydia had blacked out completely every memory she had of Laura Hale. She shut herself out from all the pain. But when her sight caught a black Camaro driving down into Beacon Hills High parking lot and all the memories rushed back to Lydia’s mind. And for a hopeful moment she hoped Laura would be the one to come out of that familiar Camaro.  


But the person she saw was a tall dark haired and scruffy man, that looked an awful lot like Laura. Her heart broke once again. There was no rest for the wicked, or for the good ones for that matter. No happy endings for Lydia.  


However, the title Lydia held, the only person with whom Laura Hale had fallen in love, continued to haunt her, and would haunt her forever. Those days they spent together were worth for a lifetime. Even now, Lydia recognized the pain as being somewhat good. Lydia preferred to pick her broken pieces than to never have met Laura.  


Lydia would still love Laura Hale for a long time.


End file.
